A Norfolk Jacket for Cycling

Back in April, late one night I decided I needed a cycling jacket--I started doing most of my commuting and errands on two wheels back at the beginning of December, and having to wear a Carhart jacket for warmth was just killing me.  Not a look I like, and not designed for cycling, either.  I also had issues in that it was way too warm for anything above 20*F, never mind rainy weather--I would get soaked both from sweat and the precipitation.

More photos of it being worn towards the bottom
of the post.
And safety first, even when just getting photos!

A Jacket for Cycling, A Project Journal for April

A couple of weeks ago, at around 10pm, I got a wild hair to start on a new project...I could feel cold and wet in the air (we got 4-5 inches of wet snow that night), so I had a rain jacket on the brain.  Again.  I do every time it rains, go look at commercial examples and discard them because they don't meet my standards of fit and durability--as well as invariably having hoods, which I detest wearing.

Taken this very morning, in fact, as I double checked the sleeve fit.

 So, I went out, found a few yards of medium brown bull denim, and off white wool in my stash--both of which were from the thrift store--and started drafting, first on paper.  Just a rough sketch of the design idea and proportions.

Fly-by-night Lancer's Tunic: Drafting

My latest harebrained scheme--a steampunk jacket in the form of a late Victorian Lancer's Tunic.  Now, there isn't much of a difference from drafting a body coat of the same system, but there are some.  Therefore, I decided to throw together a rough tutorial (images probably won't be the best) of the cutting system.

As mentioned, the tutorial is somewhat rough, and missing a few steps for the pictures--apologies for that.  But since the project is now finished, I decided I should probably publish what I have.

The system is roughly the same as that for my Frock Coat drafting tutorial--same author and company, but for military tunics.  I do recommend reading the Frock Coat Tutorial first, before continuing.--just for clarity.

Featured Garment: 1873 Morning Coat

You know, one of these times I should probably find something /really/ different.  Maybe I'll go to Ottoman Turkey....  But because this is on a single garment, and an actual example, this post will likely be shorter than usual.

Anyways, we're moving forwards by yet another century to 1870s Great Britain, where there is a lovely example of a double breasted morning coat in the V&A museum.

1860s "Sailor's" Topcoat; Travel Challenge

 

I really don't try to do these poses.  And it really does help your balance--I was walking on a submerged log.

The Project:

This was actually a fun project, and fairly quick once I got it drafted--a topcoat made of a single layer of canvas.  No shaping, and little handwork beyond hemming and sewing the various facings down (and buttons, of course.  Those don't count since they are a given.).

What it is is a slightly rough coat made of canvas, and made to the pattern of the very early sac coats or a semi-in-between garment known as a paletot (which clearly evolved from the frock coat, and is a semi-fitted overcoat).  Because it is only made of a single layer of material, and has no shaping--and isn't closely fitted--it is a quite comfortable garment for hot weather...something I rather needed.

Odd Things: Woven Tophats

Some time ago, a rather unusual accessory came up for discussion on the HSM group....a top hat, woven of walebone (baleen) and rattan, from the Swedish Museum (made in Stockholm).  So I decided to take a look around and see if I could find more examples; I did.  No others of those particular materials, but several examples woven out of straw, or even willow.  Oddly enough, I'm not finding anything written on them--don't know why.  Neither could I find any fashion plates that /may/ depict them (and no, searching for summer fashions didn't work).

1805.  Met Museum

1880s Dress-Improver: HSM #4

The April Challenge for the Historical Sew Monthly was a real challenge....to figure out what to do.  See, the challenge is Gender-Bender; Make an historical clothing item which is either for the opposite sex, or has elements inspired by the opposite gender.

As a guy, the second option is almost out--you don't see historical menswear inspired by lady's fashion.  My first choice was men's stays, based on a late Regency pair which is essentially a back brace, complete with spring elastic (made of....springs); unfortunately, this had to be discarded due to issues sourcing good quality boning of the right width (I would still like to make it someday, though).  Other options that came to mind was the Skjoldehamn find, which we don't know gender of (using Schrodinger's Authenticity to slip it in, as it was remarked by one person I asked).  Other thoughts I had were possibly a pair of boots or shoes with heels (I have seen it stated that heels started as a male fashion, and as a female one), or a coat from the 1820-40s, as male and female fashions at the time sorta mirrored each other (wide shoulders, narrow waist, wide/full skirts); both those these would have required a fair amount of research, and some arguing--not against doing so, but I ran out of time.

Bibliography of Historical Tailoring and Cutting Manuals

To the best of my knowledge, there is no place online that gathers the various--freely available--Victorian and earlier cutting systems.  Professional tailors--and cutters, which is a separate job, often in the same shop--use cutting systems rather than actual patterns.  The main difference, of course is in fit and style--a pattern may come graded to a number of sizes, but these are still ideal and won't necessarily fit; cutting systems, on the other hand, use scales and mathematics to give proportions and how to draft for the body of the customer.  They typically also have notes on modifying the draft for varying postures and such.  The majority of the systems were for menswear, and that is my focus--however, there were variations for tailored ladies' clothing as well, and I will include those that I find.

From E. Dilday's Plain and Concise Method of Garment Cutting, 1856

Double Breasted Waistcoat: The Construction

So, this is the construction page for the Double breasted waistcoat I started in May of 2015, and finally finished at the end of January, 2016.  Nope, there won't be too much information on the garment on this page--already did that on the documentation post.  Sadly, there are also photos missing because they either got lost, or I forgot to take them.

HSM January--Procraftination: Double Breasted Waistcoat

This is a fairly simple project--which turned out to be frought with complications that lead to my procrastinating for a good while.  This project is a men's double breasted waistcoat in a brocade and is my entry into the Historical Sew Monthly: Procrastination.

The Find and Sources
This project was based on one residing in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.  This particular example is from New York, 1853, and is no longer on view.  Naturally, the image of the garment on the museum webpage is my primary source.  I used a 1890s cutting system to draft it.

Historical Sew Fortnightly #22: Menswear

At the last moment, I decided on a cravat for my entry.  Something nice and simple that I needed to wear with my frock coats. 

A cravat--the predecessor of the necktie, is a simple piece of fabric--often a fine linen--which was wrapped around your neck in a number of ways, and tied (usually in the front).  Earlier in the century, it was more or less exclusively white, and eventually other colours worked their way in.  Mine is made of piece of fairly fine white linen (I believe it is a blend--I'm really not sure where the fabric came from) 5.75 by 91 inches, which I hemmed with a rolled hem.  That's it!  The exact dimensions are personal preference, and depending on the knot to be used.

It should be starched for wearing--the amount of starch depends on the how you tie it; my favourite--the waterfall (or Mailcoach)--requires little to no starch.  The oriental requires a very stiff cloth.

Historical Sew Fortnightly: Walking Frock

The Challenge:  No. 15, The Great Outdoors. 

Drafting a Frock Coat, part II: The Sleeves

Drafting sleeves--one of the banes of my existence.  Like in the first part of the tutorial, I am going to translate and provide step by step photographs of the process.  To find the measurements needed to draft the sleeve pattern, you need to have the body pattern drafted...or, as I am using, made up in halves (I recommend the first).

Page 13 of the Cutter's Guide

Page 14 of Cutter's Guide

Page 15 of the Cutter's guide...the last of the instructions.

Start off by measuring the width of the scye.  This is done by placing the ruler horizontally (or squared to the back seam) at the side-body seam.  Like Thus.

Measure down from point 'O' by this amount.

Here, it starts talking about finding the pitch.  Mark point 'A' 3/4 inch above the bottom of the scye (Forearm seam).  Mark point 'B' (Hindarm seam), the back-sidebody seam, or to taste.  Because the difference between the front and back is so drastic on mine, I decide to put 'B' one inch above the shoulder seam--actually on the front piece.

Drafting a Frock Coat, Part I: The Body (and Skirts)

The Orders are as follows. 

Start by marking off a straight line (Line 1).  Mark points at 1/3 depth of scye (plus 1/2 inch, to taste), at depth of scye, natural waist, and fashion waist (which is 1-2 inches below the natural waist--no lower than the hip bone).

Mark in 1inch at the natural waist, and draft a line from point 1 (the top of the line), to the waist.  Then straight down to the fashion waist.

Huntsman's Frock Coat

Being interested in the steampunk genre, as I am, I decided one day I wanted to make myself a frock coat.  After browsing around the costumer's manifesto, with its scanned cutting manuals from the period, I found the Huntsman's frock coat pattern.

Made of wool melton, and lined with a plaid wool flannel (or supposed to be), it was a loosely fitting frock coat made for the Hunting master of a large Noble estate...and my brain started firing.  Here was a practical, working coat that I could wear, and I felt would make a good start to a Steampunk outfit.

 

 

 

I started off by drafting my pattern, as per pages 14-15 of the costumer's manifesto--the ones for the double breasted coachman's overcoat.  When you do this, read through the instructions very carefully, perhaps translating them into your own words; and when you actually draft, check off each step, before going to the next one.

 

Coachman's Overcoat.  Source link above.

 

I had to use this particular pattern instead of the one for the huntsman's coat because the planned coat has no information on drafting.  I did, however apply the ease as for the huntsman's frockcoat.

Obviously, I drafted it as single breasted.